The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a Canadian highway that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta.
During the winter months, the highway extends another 194 km (121 mi) to Tuktoyaktuk, on the northern coast of Canada, using frozen portions of the Mackenzie River delta as an ice road (the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road).
The highway crosses the Peel River and the Mackenzie Rivers using a combination of seasonal ferry service and ice bridges
The Dempster Highway—Canada’s only all-weather road to cross the Arctic Circle—was officially opened on 18 August 1979, at Flat Creek, Yukon.
